When gifts match focal products: how product-free gift environmental congruity affects green consumption

Purpose Encouraging consumers to engage in green consumption is an effective way to address environmental issues. Free gifts can significantly promote consumers’ purchase of focal products. When gifts uphold the same green features as the focal products, consumers may enjoy double the environmental consumption value. However, little research has explored how environmental congruity between free gifts and focal products affects consumers’ willingness to engage in green consumption in the green marketing context. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from product–gift fit theory, this study employs between-subjects experiments across three studies to investigate how product-free gift environmental congruity alters consumers’ intention to engage in green consumption. Findings The findings reveal that environmental congruity (compared with incongruity) between the focal product and the free gift prompts higher green consumption intention. Furthermore, green identity serves as an underlying mechanism mediating the relationship between product-free gift environmental congruity and green consumption intention. In addition, consumption motivation acts as a moderator of these effects. Specifically, functional-oriented consumers are more inclined toward environmental congruity, while hedonic-oriented consumers prefer environmental incongruity. Originality/value Our study enriches the literature on the product–gift fit in the green consumption context and provides practical insights critical for free gift design and development, contributing to the evolving landscape of green marketing.